Untapped: The Potential of Community Colleges

Hidden in your scope is an untapped resource for reaching the community that God has entrusted to you. We often see our traditional four-year large public and small private schools and though these are important, do we see every student and faculty in our scope?

In most populous counties across the country you'll find a community college. These schools have anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand potential laborers just ready to be sent out into the kingdom.

Community colleges have a distinct local flavor because they mainly draw their student body from the areas immediately surrounding them. These students tend to be commuters and are typically enrolled for no more than two years. If we are able to take advantage of this window to reach them with the gospel, we have the potential to see a steady rate of Christ-centered laborers sent right back out into the community. They could impact the church climate in your city and also provide a great base of potential volunteers for ministry.

Another factor to consider is that a large number of students take their general credits at community colleges because of the low cost and convenience. Many then transfer as juniors to the traditional four

year schools where we already have established movements. Imagine if you could begin to train these students in the basics of evangelism and discipleship (just like any other freshman) during their two years at community college. By the time they transferred, they'd be ready to be leaders in your movement the day they set foot on your four-year campus.

What will it take for this to work?

• • Long-term key volunteer: Due to the high turnover rate, having a faculty member or administrator as a long-term presence allows for a knowledge bridge for each successive class of new students, provides for quality control in keeping the movement aligned, and can help foster a parallel faculty track ministry alongside the student track.
• • Flexibility: In Cru we talk about the definition of successful witnessing as “taking the initiative to share the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.” The same applies when launching movements. We take the initiative in the power of the Holy Spirit to reach the scope which God has entrusted to us and leave the results to him. It may look different but the core essentials will remain the same. Think of it the same as learning and working within any contextualized community.
• • Connection points: Getting these students and faculty to your conferences and trainings will be essential to helping them see and feel they are part of a larger ministry community. In some cases, the students may be close enough to attend the weekly meeting on your hub campus as another connection point.

Together, let’s pray expectantly and consider how God wants to work in and through this untapped resource.

* Photo courtesy of David Schott (Flickr Creative Commons).